Does the hospital use "VR therapy" to relieve pain and replace the anesthetic?

The researchers found that the VR experience can distract attention from pain in burn patients. However, this is still a new experimental approach, but some supporters say that VR technology is an effective treatment for diseases such as severe pain, Alzheimer's disease, spider phobia, and depression.

Companies such as Facebook, Sony, and HTC are vying to build their own VR helmets. The price of the competition will gradually decline, making VR equipment a more affordable option for hospitals. However, VR therapy seems to have a good outlook, but it is still too early to become a standard care therapy. This is still a technology that was in the early stages of development.

One third of Dionne-Duke's body was burned in the fire. She was awakened from a coma after surgery. One of the treatments she received for rehabilitation was to throw snowballs at the penguins.

In order to prevent infection, burn patients need to change the bandage regularly to remove dead skin. Sometimes, even if you morphine, this pain is unbearable.

In the Children's Hospital of the Holy Brotherhood in the United States, Duke's doctor asked her to wear a VR helmet, and then she entered the snow and ice world of "SnowWorld", the game is to throw snowballs to the snowman and the igloo. There are currently a handful of hospitals that are trying to use VR technology to relieve pain.

Duke said, "I have never heard of this game, so I was a little surprised. When I first tried it, the game would distract me and not pay attention to what doctors and nurses are doing, so it helps relieve pain. ."

However, this is still a new experimental approach, but some supporters say that VR technology is an effective treatment for diseases such as severe pain, Alzheimer's disease, spider phobia, and depression. Companies such as Facebook, Sony, and HTC are vying to build their own VR helmets. The price of the competition will gradually decline, making VR equipment a more affordable option for hospitals. Compared to the cost of staying in hospital for more than one day, the current cost of purchasing VR helmets and software is actually nothing.

If attention is transferred, the pain may be alleviated. The more you focus on the pain, the worse it will feel. By immersing the brain in a virtual world, the brain's ability to deal with pain or to recognize pain is diminished.

Beth Danal, a clinical associate professor at Stanford University, said, "Pain is an early warning of injury and can prompt our attention." She said that Stanford University has conducted some pilot research on VR technology, and VR can act as a similar drug. The psychological tools that "can calm the god level system and suppress the pain."

At the Brotherhood Children's Hospital, the psychologists Hunter Hoffman and Walter Meyer's research are similar to what David Patterson of Seattle Harborview Medical Center did. In their study, some patients said that the pain was reduced. Hoffman's magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scan of the patient's brain showed that their pain did indeed diminish.

In the Cedars-Sinai hospital in Los Angeles, Ronald-Abeler waited in a ward where he could see the hospital's apron, hoping that the helicopter would bring him a heart. After his artificial heart failed, he currently relies on the machine to survive. He desperately needs a portable heart.

He is experimenting with the Samsung Gear VR helmet and the software specially designed by the startup, AppliedVR. This allowed him to temporarily get rid of the pain of being trapped in a cell. He said that when the muscles relax, the pain will be hidden.

"I would have eaten a lot of painkillers, but after I tried VR therapy, I never thought about transplanting my heart, so I reduced the amount of painkillers." After leaving the hospital, the 54-year-old former truck driver planned to buy VR helmet.

He also said, "I didn't expect this to work. I was very surprised after the trial."

VR supporters point out that VR therapy has a big advantage over drugs. Drugs that develop long-term use can cause drug resistance, and sometimes cause patients to become addicted to drugs. However, the effectiveness of VR remains to be proven, especially in the relief of chronic pain. In addition, when the patient removes the helmet, will this effect continue?

Human Danesh, of Mount Sinai Hospital in New York, said, “We know that relaxation activities such as hypnosis, yoga and meditation can help alleviate the perception of pain. VR therapy seems to have a good outlook, but now it becomes standard care. The treatment is still too early. This is still a technology that was in the early stages of research and development."

Before VR became a widely accepted pain relief therapy, there was still a lot of research work to be done. Brennan Spiegel, a gastroenterologist at the Cedars-Sinai Hospital, will conduct research on more patients. To date, he has collected various responses from patients to VR therapy. Older patients have a lower rate of VR therapy than younger patients. A late patient is directly rejected and is not considered at all. A female patient suffering from abdominal pain immediately felt pain after trying this therapy. After returning home, she bought a VR helmet.

The potential of VR for pain relief was discovered by chance. Tom Furness is a professor of industrial engineering at the University of Washington and is regarded by his peers as the godfather of VR technology. More than 50 years ago, he began researching VR when he was in the Air Force, and introduced more than 20 VR research projects to businesses and commercialized them. For example, a consumer-grade VR helmet that came out in 1993 combines a TV tuner with a videotape and sells for $799. Due to the limited content of VR, it has not achieved great success, but many dentists have purchased this helmet.

Furness said, "Dentists like this helmet, because wearing it, patients will not always call." Experience VR let the children temporarily forget the fear of injection, drilling and filling.

Since then, more research has been done to explore the role of distraction and meditation in relieving pain. However, the popularity of VR technology has encountered a high price barrier. Early VR devices were extremely expensive. For example, the price of a VR helmet is as high as $35,000.

However, this year the VR industry has ushered in many changes. VR is no longer a niche geek technology, but a product that major companies are vying to promote, and the price is no longer as high as it used to be. The Oculus Rift retails for $599 and HTC's Vive for $799. However, consumers also need to have a PC of about $999. The VR market will continue to expand. Sony has also enabled VR support for its game consoles, and various smartphone manufacturers are constantly updating their technology to cope with the VR boom to ensure that their products provide an excellent VR experience.

From an economic perspective, VR technology is still very attractive to hospitals. Hospital care accounts for 30% of the US$3 trillion in annual medical expenses. The cost of buying a VR helmet and software is nothing compared to the cost of living in a hospital for more than a day. If VR technology allows patients to be discharged early, the investment in VR hardware makes sense.

Companies such as AppliedVR have begun experimenting with marketing VR products to the market. For example, VR helmets and treatment software are sold to hospitals. DeepStream VR is working on software and systems for burns and other wounded people, and its COOL! software provides a raft experience.

However, these companies also need to explore how to maintain patient interest. "SnowWorld" is a VR game that relieves Duke's pain, but soon she gets tired of it, which reduces the analgesic effect.

“They should find some different games for teenagers,” she said. “SnowWorld seems to be for kids.” (惜辰)